Reviews and Blog Posts: Astronomy

Did you know Mercury is in retrograde right now? I didn't, until I saw people posting about it on social media sites. When I looked it up, I discovered that the planet Mercury sometimes appears to move backwards across the sky. People who believe in astrology think that when this happens, communications of all kinds--technological, interpersonal, you name it--go haywire (Mercury was the Roman god of messengers, after all, and he was a bit of a trickster).

A couple of times a year, the celestial bodies align so that the earth's shadow obscures the moon. The shadow will move across the moon starting just after midnight Mountain Time. The eclipse will be full around 1:46 a.m. and then the moon will emerge from shadow about 3 a.m. The moon will turn a deep reddish color during the eclipse. Lunar eclipses are safe to look at directly. You're looking at the moon, not the sun. It can be viewed with the naked eye or binoculars.

I’m not sure about you, but I miss seeing Neil deGrasse Tyson on NOVA. Good news! He revamped Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and it is airing on Fox (KDVR 31) starting this Sunday at 8. It’s been a great year and a half for science documentaries and books, so if you need more geek in your week, here’s a list:

Do you ever look up to the sky and ponder the moon, planets, and constellations? Wish you knew more about the science behind ice moons, the asteroid belt, space travel, and what the heck NASA is up to? Check out some of these books and know more about what you're looking at when you're looking up!